Forbidden Love

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 14

MOTHER’S LOVE STORY AND A BLOOD COVENANT

[Fafa’s POV]

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You will realise that throughout my narration, I never mentioned my father. The subject of Fatherhood was a pain in the ass for me. I didn’t know my real father, the man I called my father was actually my step-father . My mother always feel uncomfortable any time I asked her the questions ” Who is my real father?”

“Where is he?”
I kept asking her this question for the past 20 years.

I remembered when I was in the basic school, we were asked to bring our parents (Father and mother) for a P.T.A meeting.

I came home to tell my mother the school head teacher asked us to bring our parents.

She went to the PTA meeting with my step-Father and was asked if he was my real father since there was no real resemblance between us. My mother answered “No”. She said she didn’t know my real father’s whereabout.

The Headteacher insisted on seeing my real father. I was there when he asked her if my father was dead. She said she wasn’t sure he was dead but she didn’t know where he was staying.

“Can you at least call him on your mobile phone?” The head teacher asked her.

My mother said she misplaced his contact number.

Woman, we need the real parents of the kids to fill this form. Your biodata would also be collected. Your son is a child prodigy and we needed to give him the chance to further his education freely without pay but the one in charge of the scholarship scheme wanted us to collate the biodata of the children and their parents to authenticate their parentage. I was even told the parents will be medically examined”
So once again, I asked, where is Fafa’s Father?”

“I don’t know, headmaster,” She answered succinctly.

Then the headmaster lost his temper and reprimanded her
“Woman, How can you say you don’t know where the father of your son is?”

“This is absolutely nonsensical and preposterous,a mark of parental irresponsibility and dereliction of duty, you are a little short of being an atimy to your son, perhaps a
nincompoop. It’s quite ironically your son is a genius, a savant and not a nitwit like you.

My mother left the head’s office, very worried and embarrassed.

I knew my mother was keeping something from me. It was always there. Consequently, I lost that opportunity to earn a scholarship at my basic level to have a free tuition when I was going to the high school.

I came across her wedding picture in some of my mother’s belongings.

It was hidden in the things she packed down to burn.

Out of curiosity I asked her if the man in one of the picture was my real father.

For once my mother smiled. She said the man in the picture was NOT my father. So the question was, did she give birth to me before marrying the man or after her marriage to the man?

“Son, sit down. Let me throw more light on this issue for you. You have been asking this question for far so long.

My mother told me, “Son. This is what happened. I met your Father

When he was a recruit in the Army at Sogakope. I was a teacher then in the same area. He will ran from training camp and come to me. The love was sweet. We were happy with each other and felt sad whenever we have not heard from each other for a day.

Your father had one big problem. He was very temperamental and quick tempered. At first I tolerated him but with time his quick-temperedness got into me. I knew he will fight with any guy he saw with me so I waited until he finished his 6 months military training. When he left to his hometown, I got a new boyfriend. He paid me an unannounced visit and saw my new lover. It resulted into a fight. Few weeks later I married my new boyfriend. I was expecting to have a happy marriage life. One month later I felt feverish. I went for a check up at the hospital with my husband. The doctor said I was three months pregnant while I was married for just a month. My husband was mad at me and accused me of infidelity but I knew I have not cheated on him.

“Eureka!!” It dawned on me then that I was two months pregnant for my soldier boyfriend before the wedding.
At first my husband seemed to understand the circumstances but that was the turning point of our relationship. Things were never the same again.

He used his actions to speak to me. At first, he always come home very early though he was a banker but it stopped. He began coming home late. I didn’t complain because I wanted to avoid a verbal confrontation with him. It got worst to the extent that he began sleeping outside his matrimonial home. I also suspected he was having an affair but still I never complained.

I came back home from work to see my husband on top of another woman right on my matrimonial bed. I confronted him angrily but he talked to me without respect. I told him to quit talking to me in that condescending tone! But that got him more insensate.
At that moment I decided to leave him for good. I packed my things and when I was about to leave, he resume swiving his girlfriend while I watched. I heard the lady moved in to cohabitate with him later.

Our divorce was swift. I got no alimony from him. I told the court I didn’t need it since I was the one who brought the problem into my marriage unknowingly. Eventually,I met your step-father Amenyaglo and I remarried him. I also used his surname for you. My son, that is why I don’t like talking about this topic.

I asked my mum, ” Did you contact my father about me.”
She said she did but my father didn’t believed her. She said his contact number was on her first phone but that phone got spoiled beyond repairs and was discarded long ago. She also said she didn’t know his home town since they were just doing boyfriend- girlfriend things by then.
“What is his name?” I asked her.
I don’t know if it is his real name but he told me to call him ” Bullet .”

So my son , that’s all I can tell you about your father. I used to have his picture but I discarded all those things about him after my marriage to Amedeka because I didn’t want him to think I was still in love with my Ex boyfriend. Little did I knew I was keeping my ex’s pregnancy without knowing because I used to have my period even then.”

“I’m sorry to hear your story. I hope to find my father one day.”

My mother’s narration soothed the pain I had for a very long time. The pain of not knowing anything about my father and her continuous refusal to tell me anything about him. On the outside though, the pain was indiscernible because
Despite that that trauma ,I never lose my state of equipoise. I had developed some kind of noncha
lance to always handle frenetic situations.

I kept wondering where my father would be at that moment and if he even knew he had a child with my mother. From my mother’s narrative, he knew but didn’t believe her, perhaps due to his anger for her for betraying his love. Well. My mother told me all these things before I went to the university. I don’t know why I’m remembering them now that I was in Cape Coast.

Then the ringing of the phone cut through my chain of thought.

I looked at the screen. It was Abena. I picked the call.
“Fafa, meet me right now!!!” She said.

“At where?” I asked.
Abena directed me to a particular spot. She didn’t give me any reason for the meeting.
It was just impromptu. “Please trust me,” she said.

Blood Covenant

Quickly, I headed towards the place Abena had instructed me to meet her. Upon reaching there , Abena took me along a long winding ghostly bushy path. It took about 45 minutes for us to reach where she intended to take me. Evil birds hoot at us. It was around 6.30 p.m
but the thick canvas of darkness was becoming to spread its heavy clothes on Earth.

To my amazement, she stopped in front of an old shrine. Posuban Shrine. This shrine was an old shrine abandoned in a village close to Cape Coast. It was one of the deadliest shrines in the community. It was said that the Oracle appointed its own Chief Priests or priestesses. Once you were appointed, you have no choice than to comply. It’s either you comply or die. Several men and women were killed by this goddess because of their non- adherence to her call.

Powerful men of God were called to nullify the powers of the goddess but they couldn’t. In fact the whip that broke the camel’s back was when one of the pastor’s was captured by the goddess to become a servant in the shrine.

The village folks, out of fear escaped from the village.
Abena looked at me and asked, ” Fafa, do you really love me?”
“Yes, I do” I said.

Can you die for me for the sake of love?

“Yes, I can.”
“THEN PROVE IT IN FRONT OF THE
POSUBAN SHRINE, “She said.
How? I asked.

Abena took a knife out. For a moment I thought she was going to stabbed me since she had become quite skilled in knifemanship. Instead she cut her finger and asked me to use my tongue to lick the blood. I hesitated at first. She looked disappointed. I was afraid she might stab me if I don’t prove my love for her after promising to be with her forever. Her face was turning red with……”

“Fafa, I’m waiting!!!”
I changed my mind and licked the blood from her cut finger. She smiled.

“Here take, cut your finger too.”
I took the knife and cut my finger. She happily licked my blood. Then she held my cut hand and pressed it against her cut finger. She asked me to say, “I VOW TO BE WITH YOU FOREVER NO MATTER WHAT. IN LIFE AND IN DEATH.”

I said it. She also repeat the same vow to me. Then Abena wiped our blood with a piece of paper and sent it ablaze. She said, “our love will be an Unquenchable burning flame. We left the shrine and returned home. That night I couldn’t sleep. I was beginning to regret this folly called ” love” but I felt I had already sold my soul to the devil and the devil only have one punishment for non- conformist; DEATH. Well, I don’t want to die. At least,not yet.